By the time CinderAmity finally made it home, it was already twenty-five minutes past twelve; she still wore her torn and stained outfit from earlier. She practically jumped off of her staff and rushed through the backdoor of the manor. She sped through the halls and collapsed onto the lavish sofa in the east drawing room, gasping for air.
"Phew! We made it." CinderAmity heaved a sigh of relief before she gave her palisman an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I guess I forgot about everything, even the time. But… the energy, the people, the music! Tonight was amazing! And the Princess?" She sighed happily as her mind whirled with memories of the Ball and Princess Luzura; her cheeks turned red as her lips curled into a huge smile. "I'll never forget this. Everything was just so… so… wow." She paused as her face fell; she sat up straight. "Oh well. It's over now, so…"
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ghost started meowing and batting at her left foot with her paw. CinderAmity looked and saw that she was still wearing one glass slipper. Her eyes brightened as she took it off and held it. She turned to the window behind her before noticing her reflection; she also still had her purple hair. Ghost hopped onto the sofa and purred as she cuddled on her mistress's lap.
"Thank you, Eda." She said with a smile. "Thank you so much for everything."
But then she noticed something approaching the house; it was a carriage. Her eyes widened in terror and realization; Lord Belos is coming back.
"Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no! Titan, Belos can't see me like this! If he does, he'll kill me!" She cried, jumping up from the sofa. She looked at the slipper. "I gotta hide this somewhere! Somewhere he can never…" She then turned to Ghost and gave the slipper to her. "Go hide this, girl. Make sure Belos doesn't find it."
Ghost smiled and nodded before taking the slipper in her teeth and running off with it. The moment her palisman was out of sight, CinderAmity heard the carriage pull up at the front door. Thinking fast, she plopped back onto the sofa, covered herself with a blanket, and pretended to be asleep just as she heard the front door unlock and open. But as she heard Boscha and Bria's laughter and three sets of footsteps draw closer, she realized she forgot something else: her hair. How was she going to hide that? But she had no time to think of a plan; she remained still and silent under the blanket just as Boscha, Bria, and Belos entered.
"Did you see that guy whistling through his teeth?" Bria chortled as she took her mask and hat off.
"Yeah, I know! He was such a loser!" Boscha laughed as she took off her own mask.
"What a night." Belos sighed as he cracked his back and took off his cape. He then noticed a pale hand sticking out from under the blanket on the sofa and smirked. "Well, well, what have we here?"
CinderAmity faked a yawn, pretending to just wake up from a restful nap, and sat up, making sure the blanket over her head showed her face but completely covered her hair. She wiped her eyes and smiled.
"Oh, welcome back." She greeted.
"Hey. Make yourself useful and go get us some Apple Blood." Boscha ordered.
"Yeah, and make us a snack too while you're at it. We're hungry." Bria added.
"And try not to take too long. I'm tired and I don't have all evening." Belos demanded as he sat down in a nearby armchair; he took off his own mask and off to the side.
"Uh, sure. Right away." CinderAmity said as she tiptoed to the doorway. The moment she was out of sight, she dropped the blanket and sprinted towards the kitchen, hoping they didn't notice her hair.
"Now that we're back, we have a little time for what really matters… Penstagram!" Boscha exclaimed as she and Bria each took out a purple scroll resembling a cell phone and sat down on the sofa; their palismen settled in between them. Belos rolled his eyes and picked up a book from the coffee table; he never understood the appeal of Penstagram.
In the kitchen, CinderAmity had grabbed a few juice boxes of Apple Blood as well as a glass and the bottle of special Black Diamond Apple Blood and set them on a tray. As she was preparing a few sandwiches, Ghost approached her with an old hat in her mouth. CinderAmity smiled, thankful to have such a clever palisman in her corner. When she came back to the drawing room, she carefully set the tray of drinks and food on the coffee table. The two girls quickly noticed the hat she was now wearing and gave confused looks.
"What's with the ugly hat?" Bria asked as she took two juice boxes and handed one to Boscha.
"Oh, this? After you left, I… played a bit of dress-up to cheer myself up." She lied.
"…Eh, whatever." Boscha scoffed, shrugging her shoulders.
"So… how was the Ball? Did you all have a good time?" CinderAmity asked, opening the bottle of black Apple Blood and pouring a glass of it for Belos.
"It was a smash." Boscha said, sipping from her juice box.
"Yeah. Too bad you weren't there." Bria taunted.
Belos took the half-full glass from his stepdaughter and raised an eyebrow at her before taking a sip from his glass. "It wasn't what I initially expected, but I do admit it was rather enjoyable nonetheless."
"That's good to hear. Were there a lot of people at the Ball? Did you know anybody there?"
"Yes. Everyone who was anyone… all except one." His smug smirk fell into an annoyed scowl as he recalled the masked stranger.
"Don't even mention her." Bria said as she took one of the sandwiches from the tray and took a big bite.
"Yeah! That hussy totally stole the show. Right, Maya?" Boscha added, petting the head of her palisman.
"Hussy?" As they talked, CinderAmity maneuvered her way over to the fireplace with her back turned to them, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. She tried her hardest to keep a straight face and not give anything away.
"Yes, some mystery girl in a cat mask. I never did quite catch her name." Belos said, his voice dripping with contempt. "At the beginning of the Ball, the girl just walked in unannounced and unaccompanied no less. What gall."
Boscha and Bria rolled their eyes and groaned.
"Nobody even knew who she was!" The three-eyed witch shouted before taking a big bite out of a sandwich. "But for some reason, she was with the Princess the whole night."
"Really?" CinderAmity asked, pretending to sound curious.
"Yeah, practically swept her off her feet." She scoffed. "Even their palismen looked like they were in love. Eugh, they're not even that cute."
"Totally. But the weirdest thing was that at around twelve, she just ran out for no reason!" Bria added, taking a swig from her juice box. "And when the Princess went out to find her, she was nowhere in sight, as if she completely disappeared. You can tell the Princess was really upset. That girl's pussy cat palisman was no better, vanished with her. Isn't that right, Rocksteady?" She stroked her palisman's back.
"Wow. Sounds… exciting." CinderAmity could feel her face turning red again.
Belos scoffed at that statement. "Exciting is far from the correct term for such a situation." He glanced in his stepdaughter's direction and noticed her pulling the brim of her hat over her face; this made him curious as he picked up a sandwich and took a small bite. "And… what, pray tell, have you been doing all night, CinderAmity dear? Besides your little dress-up game, I mean."
"Me?" She paused and tried to think of a good excuse. "Oh! Um, I was… just dreaming, mostly. Wondering what it was like at the Ball, you know?"
"What? Oh please." Boscha sneered. "You couldn't possibly imagine what it was like unless you were there."
"Yeah, you can't imagine it." Bria added, turning back to her Penstagram scroll.
"I don't know. Maybe I have more imagination than you think." She smirked to herself, knowing a lot more than she was letting on.
"Whatever." Bria continued scrolling before she stopped and started laughing like crazy. "Oooh! Boscha, look at this! Someone posted a video of that crazy human making a fool of himself at the party!"
"No way!" She checked her own scroll, saw a video of that same human from earlier, and started laughing too. "What a MORON!"
CinderAmity deliberately made her way behind the two witches and took a peek at the video as well. She saw that human man shouting and pulling on her ear and ripping off Belos' mask in front of everyone. She almost burst out laughing at the part where he was thrown out by the guards. Belos paid no attention and casually took another sip of his Apple Blood while reading his book. Then the girls' scrolls pinged; there was a new notification.
"What's this?" Boscha asked before letting out a dramatic gasp. "Holy Titan! It's from the Princess! She's starting a livestream! Right now!"
"WHAT?! Well what are you waiting for?! PLAY IT!" Bria yelled before she and her friend ran over to Belos and practically shoved the scroll in his face. This took him aback. "Belos, you NEED to see this!"
"What? See what?!" He demanded.
"Just watch!" Boscha said as she pulled up the stream.
Wondering what they were going on about this time, CinderAmity cautiously made her way to the tray on the coffee table and picked up an extra Apple Blood juice box, trying not to look like she was eavesdropping. She listened very carefully as they watched.
"We're up and running." Vee said in the video.
"Okay. Ready, Luz." King added, giving a thumbs up.
"Thanks, guys." Luz replied before clearing her throat. She stood tall and proud and stared directly into the camera. "Attention, people of Gravesfield and the Boiling Isles! I have an announcement. Earlier tonight, I danced with a very special girl at the Halloween Ball. But now she disappeared and I don't know where to find her. But in her haste to leave, she left behind this single glass slipper." CinderAmity froze at the mention of the slipper. The video continued as Luz held up the shoe. "Starting first thing tomorrow morning, I am going to search the entirety of the Boiling Isles and try this slipper on every teenage witch and demon I can find. And when I find the one the slipper fits, she will be my princess. And I don't care how long it takes; I WILL find my mystery girl!"
The video abruptly ended and Bria and Boscha stared at each other.
"WHAT?!" They cried.
"Girls! Will you please?!" Belos shouted, covering his ears.
"This is huge! The Princess is looking for HER?!" Boscha exclaimed.
"But what does she even see in that girl?!" Bria said.
"I don't know, but it shouldn't matter. I'm certain she will give up on this pointless endeavor after her first try." Belos said before he noticed CinderAmity's tense expression.
She started muttering as if in a daze; her cheeks had already started turning red once again. "Glass slipper? Dating Princess Luzura? Becoming sweethearts? Her girlfriend? Potential thoughts of… marriage?" She was so panicked she didn't even realize her grip on the Apple Blood box was getting tighter and tighter until it eventually exploded in her hand, spraying bright red Apple Blood everywhere.
Boscha and Bria cried out in surprise, trying not to get wet. Belos shielded himself too, but he was now very angry.
"CinderAmity, what are you doing?! Clean that up this instant!" He demanded.
"I GOTTA GO!" CinderAmity cried before running out of the room as fast as she could.
"What?! No, young lady! Come back!" He got up from his chair to go after her, but he stopped when he heard the kitchen door slam.
"What the heck was that? Did you see the look on her face? She looked like she saw a ghost." Boscha replied.
"Yeah. But what about that blush? Her face was so red she looked like the Apple Blood she spilled." Bria laughed.
Belos turned to them and with his eyes glowing in annoyance, said, "Pack your things. Your parents will be here to take you both home soon."
Not knowing what else to do, the two girls picked up their masks, snacks, and palismen and made their way to the stairs to pack up their things to head home. On their way, they passed by the kitchen door, which was still shut.
"Looks like our fun's over, CinderAmity." Boscha teased.
"Yeah, thanks a lot." Bria mocked.
They disappeared up the stairs as they talked with one another and Belos stood in the drawing room by himself. He took out his ponytail and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep sigh. He was more than relieved to see those girls go; they had grown to be very grating on his nerves. But he still had one more issue to deal with: CinderAmity's odd behavior. He had a hunch she was lying about something, but he didn't know what.
"I suppose I'll have to see to this myself." He muttered.
